Citizens surely expect the government to be on watch against terrorist attacks like 9/11, against destabilizing aggression like Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and against clandestine efforts to steal military secrets or undermine our elections. Those are the explicit goals of the 18 secret intelligence agencies in the federal government, but the leading ones are the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA). The mission statement of the CIA "is to preempt threats and further U.S. national security objectives," while the NSA's motto is: "Defending Our Nation. Securing the Future."
So far, so good.
